Nearly all residents are happy to live in Rancho Santa Margarita, according to the city’s latest satisfaction survey, similar to results in other south Orange County cities.

The city recently revealed the results of the 2014 survey conducted by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates for $26,900. The survey interviewed randomly selected 403 residents on the registered-voter list by phone from June 18 to 23, according to the firm.

Ninety-seven percent of the respondents said their community is a “good” or “excellent” place to live, compared to 99 percent in the 2012 survey. About nine in 10 responded the quality of life will get better or stay the same over the next five years.

Here are other findings from Rancho Santa Margarita’s survey:

• No single issue dominates public concern; traffic and congestion received the most votes at 12 percent. One in four said there is no issue that concerns them or they aren’t sure. Six percent mentioned the future of the former Nissan dealership site, which votes will get to decide in the November election.

• Eight in 10 rated the job done by the city government “excellent” or “good.” Nearly 60 percent said the city doesn’t need additional funds to provide the level of services they want.

• About 95 percent said personal safety and the general appearance of the community are “excellent” or “good.”

Such high satisfaction rates are common among other affluent planned communities in the area.

In a 2014 Laguna Niguel survey, 98 percent said the quality of life in the city is excellent or good. In Aliso Viejo, the rate was 96 percent in 2013. Most of these residents are also satisfied with their city governments.

Urban planning experts say these surveys reveal self-bias; people don’t move to planned communities unless they want to live in that environment. And part of the satisfaction comes from being rich, said Tridib Banerjee, a USC professor specializing in neighborhood planning.

Rancho Santa Margarita’s survey included questions about Chiquita Ridge, a 92-acre property south of Canada Vista Park along Antonio Parkway. The city acquired the open space after settling a land dispute with the county in 2009.

As part of the settlement agreement, if the city is developed, at least 23 acres must be dedicated to a sports park and 37 acres set aside for open space.

Here is what the respondents said about the development of Chiquita Ridge:

• Seven in 10 favored developing the sports park.

• Fifty-six percent favored developing a retail store, whereas 33 percent opposed. The rest were unsure or had no opinion.

• A half of the respondents favored developing single family homes, whereas 41 percent opposed. Seventy-seven percent of the residents of five years or less favor this, compared to 46 percent of longer-term residents.

Tomoya Shimura covers Irvine for the Orange County Register. Prior to his stint at the Register, Tomoya had worked as a news reporter and sports writer for the Daily Press in Victorville. He won several awards for his work there, including the best business story from the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Tomoya received his M.S. in sports studies from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He earned his B.A. in liberal arts from International Christian University in Tokyo.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.